BULGUR-CARROT SALAD WITH ALMONDS AND FETA

Posted in Rice and Grains, Salads, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

Yes, it is a salad, but next day I warmed it up in the microwave just briefly and wow, what a tasty side dish it became! So consider that option also, you can serve it slightly warm instead of waiting for the bulgur to get cold. Another recipe that the husband asked me to place in our regular rotation, so you know it is a keeper.

BULGUR-CARROT SALAD WITH ALMONDS AND FETA CHEESE
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

1 cup medium-grind bulgur
1 + 1/4 cups boiling water
salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups shredded carrots
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
chopped cilantro to serve (optional)

Place the bulgur in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Top with a plate or plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. If any liquid is leftover, strain it out. Let the bulgur cool, reserve.

In a serving bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper. When the bulgur is ready add it to the bowl and toss together with the dressing. Add in the shredded carrots, cilantro, almonds and feta. Gently toss everything together until combined. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed, sprinkle with cilantro right before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: If you are a vegetarian or need to cook for someone who is, add this recipe to your files, it is truly delicious, very filling but at the same time feels light and refreshing with all the lemon juice and the creaminess of the feta. As I mentioned, warming it up next day was perfect. The cilantro lost its freshness and vibrant color but you can always add a little more once you bring it to the table. Since we are meat lovers, I served it with grilled boneless chicken thighs, but you can go a full vegetarian path if you prefer. One final advice, do not use pre-shredded carrots, they have a nasty texture and will not behave like freshly grated. I intensely dislike grating carrots, but must admit, it is necessary in this case.

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29Aug2026

MARBLED SWEET POTATO SOURDOUGH

Posted in Breads by sallybr

I had a blast making this bread, which I improvised beginning to end, including the decoration on top. I have a few ideas to adjust the design for a next adventure, but I am quite happy with the way this one turned out.

MARBLED SWEET POTATO SOURDOUGH
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

500g bread flour
350g water
10g salt
75g sourdough starter (at 60 to 100% hydration)
25g sweet potato powder (I used this one)

Mix all ingredients except the sweet potato powder in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead gently for about 3 minutes (first or second speed maximum). Weigh the dough, and remove approximately 1/3 of the amount to a smaller bowl. Continue kneading the white portion for another minute. Transfer to an oiled bowl. Place the smaller portion of the dough back into the mixer bowl, add the sweet potato powder and knead for another minute. You will probably have to knead by hand to incorporate the powder well into the dough, but no need to worry too much about it. Transfer that dough to a smaller, oiled bowl. Bulk ferment both portions folding them at every 45 minutes. Do that for 3 cycles, so the fermentation will last for about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Forty five minutes after the last folding, stretch both doughs as a rectangle, ad place the purple on top of the white. Roll them together. Allow to ferment for another 90 minutes, with very gentle coil folds, twice, again, at 45 minute intervals.

Once bulk fermentation is over, shape the dough as a oblong loaf and place in a banneton. Move it to the fridge, covered, and leave it there overnight.

Next day, freeze the dough for 30 minutes in the banetton, to make it easier to score later. Invert the dough on a paper liner, rub a fine layer of Thai rice flour, and decorate with slashes or if you want to add a pattern, use an air-brush and a stencil to do so.

Bake in a Dutch oven with the lid on at 450F for 30 minutes, open and allow the bread to brown for a further 15 minutes. Depending on the decoration chosen, you can do a deeper scoring at 7 minutes into baking.

Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: When marbling sourdough, I like to mix the two colors at least 2 hours into the bulk fermentation. At that point the dough is nice to work with, has some “strength” and you can easily stretch and manipulate. Once that is done, two more cycles of folding help the colors mingle, but be gentle, that’ s why I change to coil folds instead of full folding. You can check youtube for the way to do coil folding, but the name is pretty self-explanatory.

I used purple luster powder mixed with vodka in my air-brush, and a stencil that did not really have randomly placed stars, so I covered parts of it and arranged rows of stars all over. A few parallel cuts and into the oven it went…

Of course, the crucial moment is slicing this baby, and hoping for a nice marbling effect inside…
What do you think? Did I get it right?

If anyone is curious, the flavor of the bread is not changed by the sweet potato powder. It does change slightly the texture of the dough, but once it is all fermented for several hours, it acts pretty much like a single-color batch does. I hope you give this method a try, you can use butterfly pea flower powder, beet powder (make sure to add some vitamin C to keep the red color), or even charcoal powder for a black and white version.

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25Aug2026

FOUR LITTLE CUPCAKES

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Vanilla or Chocolate Cupcakes, all with American Buttercream in different decorating styles. Two designs went tropical, showcasing a plump Brazilian “brigadeiro” on the top.

VANILLA CUPCAKES
(adapted from several sources)

120g all-purpose flour
150g granulated sugar
40g butter, unsalted, removed from the fridge for 30 minutes
1 large egg
120mL milk
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
1/4 tsp salt

Heat the oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with paper baking cups. Recipe makes 9 to 10 cupcakes.

Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and butter cut in small pieces in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low until the butter is in very small pieces, almost like sand.

Whisk the egg with the milk and vanilla, add slowly to the mixer running in low-speed. Once it is almost smooth, increase the speed to high for a couple of minutes, scraping the bottom of the bowl once.

Stop the mixer and make sure the batter is fully smooth, mixing by hand with a spatula. Add batter to the 9 cupcakes, filling half-way full only. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Leave cool completely before decorating.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

PASTEL TONES CUPCAKES

Vanilla cupcakes were baked then frosted with American buttercream, using this recipe. The batch was divided in three portions, dyed pastel pink, teal, and the last portion left white. Then, it was a matter of having fun with different piping tips and finish them with sprinkles in matching color.

I used a 3D Wilton tip for the large rose swirl, and a tip 20 for the other details. Just have fun with it, no precision needed. I love the end result…

BRAZILIAN-STYLE CUPCAKES, TWO WAYS

I used the same vanilla cupcake recipe, the same American buttercream. Rolled brigadeiros in sprinkles, and used them to decorate the cupcakes right after frosting. I used a large open star tip to make petal-style piping. You can use white frosting, or make a marble type like I did in one of my batches, using pink and white.

These turned out fun and from what I heard, were a big hit when I donated them…

GALAXY CUPCAKES

CHOCOLATE GALAXY CUPCAKES
(inspired by several sources)

for the cupcakes (makes 10):
100g all-purpose flour
20g cocoa powder
140g granulated sugar
40g butter, softened
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg
120mL milk, full-fat
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat oven to 350F and line a tray with cupcake liners.

Mix the milk with egg in a small bowl, whisk, reserve.

Put the flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until the butter forms a sand consistency. Pour half the milk mixture into the bowl and mix on low-speed for a minute. Increase the speed to medium-high for a couple of minutes. Add the remaining milk mixture, and mix on low-speed until fully incorporated.

Increase the speed for a few seconds, then add the batter to the lined cupcakes. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes clean when inserted in the center.

Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

For the galaxy effect, divide the buttercream in three portions, one of them smaller than the other two (no need for exact measurements, you can eye-ball). The idea is to minimize the amount of the very dark component, otherwise it will overpower the design. Dye the smallest portion black, the other two teal and pink. Add them in straight lines over plastic wrap, roll the wrap like a sausage and insert into a large piping bag fitted with an open star tip. Pipe swirls, and add sprinkles. These would be amazing next to the cookies I blogged about recently, don’t you think?

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21Aug2026

FRESH CORN AND BLACK BEAN SALAD WITH CORN CHIPS

Posted in Salads, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

We have new neighbors who moved here from a town in Kansas 5 hours away, where they own a big farm. One of their main crops is corn, and they have been gifting us spectacular examples of their labor of love. We often indulge with nothing more than a little salt and pepper, but we’ve also been working hard trying new recipes. Here is one that is a total winner!

FRESH CORN AND BLACK BEAN SALAD WITH CORN CHIPS
(adapted from The New York Times)

for the dressing:
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sugar (if your corn is super sweet, omit it)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

for the salad:
4 cups fresh corn kernels (from 4 large cobs)
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed
A big handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
corn tortilla chips, lightly crushed, amount to taste
2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted and roughly diced
Hot sauce (optional), for serving

Prepare the dressing: To a large bowl, add the lime juice, cumin, sugar, crushed red pepper and olive oil. Season with about 1 teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper and whisk to combine. Taste and check seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if needed.
To the dressing, add the corn, black beans and cilantro. Toss to combine, taste and season with salt and pepper.
When ready to eat, add the corn chips and avocados, and toss to combine. Dot with hot sauce, if so desired.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Such a colorful salad, and quite substantial, as it is quite high in carbs. You can serve it only next to a main dish like grilled salmon, which we chose in our first time enjoying it, or go for the kill and also add rice and more chips like my beloved did.

Some dishes make you smile just looking at the plate, so colorful and fun. And having the best corn makes it super special. Leftovers were still ok, although I recommend adding fresh corn chips. The avocado might suffer a bit but the overall acidity helps.

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17Aug2026

THE YIN AND YANG OF SORBETS

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Two delicious takes on sorbets, one made by the husband, one made by yours truly. Together they make a match made in heaven. Am I talking sorbet or people? You decide!

PEACHES AND HONEYDEW SORBET
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

2 + 1/2 cups peaches (with skin)
2 + 1/2 cups honeydew melon (or cantaloupe)
1/2 cup sugar
1 banana
juice of lime
2 tablespoons vodka
2 tablespoons Cointreau (can be omitted)

Mix all ingredients in a Vitamix type blender. Process until fully smooth, let it sit in the fridge overnight or at least 6 hours, covered.

Mix it briefly with a spoon, them churn in your ice cream maker, until done.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

CHOCOLATE SORBET
(from David Leibovitz)

RECIPE AVAILABLE HERE

Comments: Phil is the sorbet maker in our home, and he always comes with amazing combinations using all sorts of fruits, as you can see if you do a search in this site. This peach/melon concoction is refreshing, with the right amount of sweetness. But we both feel that the chocolate sorbet from David Leibovitz steals the show. I’ve had his book – The Perfect Scoop – for many years, and wanted to try this version for the longest time. So glad I finally dd! It is a huge hit of chocolate, intense, feels very rich, but not a drop of heavy cream in the horizon. Pretty amazing, we highly recommend you try it. I am glad the recipe is available online.

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